Who Came to Party?

I know there are many more birthdays to come for Braedan, but this year was so enjoyable to watch because he understood a lot more of what was going on around him. For you and me, a birthday might involve reflecting on another year and feeling grateful to have experienced and enjoyed all that you have during that time. For Braedan, when he gets wind of a birthday he asks the two most important questions a three year old might ask about one, "He having a birthday party? With cake?" It doesn't matter if the person will indeed have a party, when he hears the word birthday it is synonymous with a party and cake. In fact he said the sweetest thing to me the other day when I mentioned my birthday is coming up. He looked at me and said, well stated it as more of a question as he usually does with a lot of his sentences, "I go to your birthday party?" I couldn't help but laugh and didn't have the heart tell him I wasn't having a party so all I managed to say was, "Of course, it wouldn't be a party without you."

This year Braedan sort of got two birthday parties for the price of one. We invited a few of his friends to a pool party, but unfortunately thunder activity delayed and eventually canceled the pool fun. Fifteen minutes in to the start of the party thunder rumbled nearby prompting lifeguards to force us out of the pool, and as intermittent rumbling continued on we decided to call it an afternoon and have everyone over to our house for hamburgers and hot dogs. Braedan of course didn't understand why we were called out of the pool. He kept asking about going back in, but all of his questioning was forgotten once he learned his friends would be coming over, because again to a three year old, friends coming over naturally means they are coming over to play.

I was disappointed that he and his friends didn't really get to enjoy the pool, but in the end all that really mattered was that he was happy. And you know my fun loving boy, he made the most of it.

Of course since he is a beach boy now, his birthday wouldn't be complete without spending some time in the sand and water. On the day of his actual birthday we spent some time at the beach with family. Here he is getting some help with a sand castle from my sister's boyfriend, Hayden.

Happy Birthday, Big Boy!